Breaking Point
by cocopops1995
Summary: Robin's gone missing and it's up to the Titans and Batman to find him. Will they be able to work together to save Robin before it's too late? (Sequel to Mending the Broken)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello lovely readers and welcome to the sequel to Mending the Broken! I know this took way longer than I said I would but honestly I didn't have any inspiration for this story but now I do! Just a quick warning: this story will not update as fast at the last one as I have gotten much busier since I wrote Mending. I will promise one chapter a week, maaaybe 2, depends on how busy I am during the week. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!**

**Oh for those of you following Turtle Justice, sorry about the delay there, it's going on a temporary hiatus for now… it will continue though, don't worry about that.**

**For those of you who haven't read Mending, I suppose you don't really need to read it, but it would help.**

**This story takes place after the Teen Titans In Tokyo movie, in other words; about 3 years after Mending and Robin and Starfire are an official item :D**

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**Chapter 1**

Masked, blue eyes opened to a world of white only to immediately slam shut in pain as bright white light accosted them. The lids remained squeezed shut for a few minutes as the pain died down before slowly opening again and then blinking rapidly as the irises adjusted to let the right amount of light in and saw… white.

White ceiling, white fluorescent lights. Masked, blue eyes slid to the left… and then to the right… and only took in more white.

'_Huh?'_

Dark hair lifted off a soft surface and blue eyes widened behind the mask as the saw that he was tied down to a bed and his usual bright, colourful costume had been replaced by a white long-sleeved t-shirt and white track-suit pants, his feet and hands were bare. He was also strapped to the bed with white restraints.

'_Someone has a thing for white… Where am I?'_

He tried to wiggle free of his restraints but the restraints we strong and tight; he wasn't going anywhere.

The room was eerily quiet, with no sound save for his own, slow breathing. Blue eyes slid shut as he tried to think of the last thing he remembered but could only come up with vague images and sounds-a flash of light, a boom and a screaming of his name-not exactly a good combination of memories to ever have.

He thought he might have been caught in an explosion and gotten separated from his team and then… what? Kidnapped by some madman? He supposed it wouldn't be the first time, but it sure hadn't happened in a long time. Who, he wondered, had taken him this time? And for what purpose? To blackmail his team perhaps? Or his father? It had been a long time since he'd been kidnapped for the latter reason but that did not put it out of the question. He could even be dealing with some new villain with a thing for white; he definitely didn't know any villains with a thing for white…

His thoughts were cut off by the sudden introduction of a sudden noise. Lids flew open as blue eyes flew around what he could see of the room in search of the source of the sound but could find none. It seemed as if it was coming from all directions. Static; and it was getting louder, he wanted to lift his hands to cover his ears but the white restraints made that impossible.

White. White ceiling, white walls, white clothes, white restraints and the noise, static was sometimes referred to as white noise. White, white, white, white. Something about it was ringing a bell in his mind but he couldn't quite reach it. The noise was now threatening to overwhelm him and he was quickly losing his composure; his breathing picked up speed and he strained against his restraints, wanting nothing more to get away from the noise.

Then, as suddenly as it came the noise stopped, leaving only a ringing in his ears, and in that instant he knew what was happening. Whoever had kidnapped him was subjecting him to white torture. He had read about it once as a part of his training. It was a type of psychological torture, he remembered now, that included extreme sensory deprivation and isolation, he swallowed hard; it was used to cause victims to lose their personal identity through long periods of isolation.

Suddenly he had a sneaking suspicion of who might be behind this. He could think of only two people who would want him to lose his personal identity. The M.O. didn't really fit either of his suspects but they were both so unpredictable that he wouldn't be surprised if it was either of them.

He thought he heard a door open and close somewhere beyond his field of vision but when no one appeared for a long moment he thought he may have imagined it. He was proved wrong, however, by a sudden invasion of colour to his left. The sudden appearance of orange of black contrasted so strongly with the white of the room that it hurt his eyes to look at the man leaning over him.

"Slade." He hissed; his breath still not fully under control.

"Little Bird," the man addressed him, "Comfortable?"

"Let me go and I'll show you just how comfortable I am!" he sneered in reply

"Tsk, tsk," the man tutted, "That attitude of yours has always been a problem but no matter, soon it will no longer be a problem."

"What do you want, Slade?"

"The same thing I've always wanted, boy, and this is how I will get it. A few months in here and you will be mine."

"I will _never _be yours!"

"You say that now but soon…"

"Soon my friends will find me and then I will personally take delight in kicking your butt."

Slade chuckled, "They'll never find us here. We're not even in your little city any more. Your uniform and your communicator were incinerated back in Jump City, they have no way of finding you and neither does the Bat. You are all alone here and soon you won't even remember them. Then, when you have forgotten them and you are a shell of who you are now, I will help you build your mind back up and you will be the perfect apprentice."

"No." Robin denied, shaking his head vehemently

"Oh yes. From now on you are not Robin, you have no name, no family, no friends. You. Are. Nobody."

"NO!"

Slade didn't reply, he simply turned and walked away. As soon as the door closed the static started again and Robin squeezed his eyes shut shook his head hard.

'_No, he's wrong. I am Robin. My name is Richard John Grayson. Bruce and Alfred are my family and so are my friends: Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire. I won't forget them! I won't!"_

He tried to focus on his friends and family but the noise was just too much, it was getting too loud and he couldn't focus on anything else.

_'Bruce,' _he sobbed silently, _'I just want to go home... please...'_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: hello you lovely readers! Thanks for the awesome reviews as well as the follows and favs! Sorry this took so long but my laptop crashed and so I had to retype this whole chapter and I've been sick too so yeah... but here it is! Enjoy!**

**For those of you who have read my more random pieces (e.g. Batman Smells and Let it Go (Superman's Version) ) I posted a super random one the other night, it's called Dick Grayson and it's a parody of the song Ghostbusters, if that song is before your time, check it out on YouTube first)**

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**Chapter 2**

The world came back to her slowly. She breathed in and immediately started coughing as dust invaded her airways. She blinked as she heard someone call her name.

_'Robin?'_

She heard her name called again, _'No... Cyborg... but where is Robin then?'_

She looked around and found that she was under a pile of rubble so she pushed it off her and stood up.

"Cyborg?" She called

"Starfire!" His voice was muffled, as if he was speaking through a wall, "Are you okay?"

"I am well, Cyborg." She called back as she created a ball of energy around her hand to light the area up, "I do not see any of our friends!"

"Raven and Beast Boy are with me." Cyborg called in answer; it seemed as if his voice was coming from behind a pile of rubble to her left

"What about Robin?" She called

"I'm going to blast through the rubble, move back!"

Starfire did as she was told but did not miss the fact that Cyborg had failed to answer her question and that was not a good sign.

As soon as Cyborg stepped through the dust that his blast had thrown back into the air she asked again: "Where is Robin?"

Cyborg's face was grim, "I don't know; I was hoping he was with you."

"He is not. We were separated by the blast."

Cyborg nodded, "My bio-sensors aren't picking him up at all and he's not answering his communicator. I was hoping that it was because of the interference from the rubble."

"He cannot just be gone! Scan for him again!" Starfire exclaimed as Raven and Beast Boy joined him.

"I just did, Star. He's not here." Cyborg answered patiently

"Have you tried calling him on his communicator again?" She asked

"Yes." Raven answered, "Still nothing."

"Where could he have gone? He would not have just left us here!" Starfire exclaimed

"Of course he wouldn't, Star." Beast Boy assured her, "Maybe he woke up before we did and went to get help. You said he got separated from you in the blast, maybe he found a way out. I'm sure he'll be back in no time."

"That still doesn't explain why he isn't answering his communicator." Cyborg said

"Maybe it was damaged in the blast." Raven supplied

"I suppose it's possible." Cyborg said dubiously

Starfire wanted to believe that what Beast Boy had suggested was true, but a gnawing feeling in her grug was telling her that he was wrong, and one of the first things she had ever learnt from Robin was to always trust her grug.

"Perhaps." She agreed for now.

"So, what? We just wait here for Robin?" Beast Boy asked

"Well if his communicator is broken and he's bringing back help back then we'll have to wait for him. You know he'll freak out if he gets back and we're all gone." Raven answered

"You're right. If he's not back within the hour we'll start to worry."

"Perhaps in the mean time we can try to determine what caused the explosion?" Starfire suggested, "I have never known Doctor Light to employ such sneaky tactics."

"Me neither." Cyborg agreed, "And come to think of it, I didn't see him at all before the explosion. Did any of you see him?"

The others shook their heads

"And he's all about being in the spotlight." Raven remarked.

"Hmm, this whole thing isn't like him." Cyborg mused, "Alright, let's split up, maybe we'll have something by the time Robin gets back."

Starfire sighed as she began her search for any clues as to what had happened. She hated when what were supposed to be simple missions ended up being anything but simple. They had merely been responding to a reported sighting of Doctor Light but had arrived only to find an empty, abandoned warehouse. Never one to abandon a possible lead; Robin had ordered that they at least search the warehouse for any sign of Doctor Light before continuing their search elsewhere. They hadn't been inside for very long before the explosion had gone off and she remembered calling out to him before blacking out.

"Hey guys, I think I found something!" Cyborg called

Starfire and the rest of the Titans quickly joined him to see what he had found.

"It looks like the origin of the explosion." Cyborg explained, pointing at a big circle with black blast lines radiating outward around it, "Looks like the bomb was waiting for someone."

"And by 'someone' you mean 'us'" Beast Boy stated

Cyborg shrugged, "It's a possibility. See if you can find bomb fragments, I might be able to find out who made it."

The Titans spread out again, searching for bomb fragments and gathered together again a little over an hour later.

"I'll need to get back to the tower to put it all together." Cyborg said

"Robin has still not returned." Starfire stated

"It's been almost two hours." Raven added

"You're right." Cyborg said, "Alright, let's head back to the tower and start our search from there. Maybe he was concussed and passed out there or something."

Starfire hoped Cyborg was right but couldn't ignore the feeling that he was probably wrong.

'_Robin, where are you?'_

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**AN 2: Just a quick note, I'm going to try to have the next chapter up by the end of the week but I am still sick and my brain is totally not in it... also i might be spending the next three weeks after that in areas with no internet so I won't be able to post but I will have time to write so by the time I get back I should have most of the rest of the story done so I will be able to post faster when I get back!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Bruce Wayne had been in an unusually good mood all day. He supposed it was probably because Dick was due to come for a visit in a few days, that usually put him in a good mood. Even work had been enjoyable for a change; he had no frustrating telephone calls and the only meeting he'd had was with Lucius and it was to discuss his favourite part of his job: new ideas for the R&amp;D department. Since his only meeting had been with Lucius he was able to leave work early, which meant he hit no traffic and so the good mood had lasted.

Even later that evening after he had donned the cowl and become Batman, the good mood had stayed. Of course that didn't mean that Batman had a huge grin on his face all night, because that would have been absolutely ludicrous, but his mood was still brighter than usual and it had stayed that way for most of the night. Right up until he had received a call from Starfire.

"Batman here." He answered the call

"Batman! You must come to Jump City immediately! We have run out of places to search and we haven't heard from him in two days and Cyborg denies it but I fear we will not find him without your help and -"

"Starfire!" He cut her off, "You're not making any sense. Start from the beginning."

"Okay." He heard her take a deep breath before she started again, "Robin is missing."

And with those three simple, terrifying words, Batman's mood had hit rock bottom with an almighty crash.

"What?!" He growled in response

"Please, you must come help us find him!"

"I'll be there in two and a half hours." And with that he cut the call and then growled into the communicator embedded in his cowl, "Batman to base."

"Here, sir." Alfred answered almost immediately, "Is everything alright?"

"No." Batman replied, "I just received a call from Starfire. Robin is missing."

"Oh dear Lord."

"I'm on my way back now. Prep the plane; I want to leave as soon as I get home."

"Of course, sir, I will see you soon."

Batman grunted in response, "Batman out."

Exactly two and a half hours later Batman walked into the living area of Titans' Tower only to find the Titans bickering about where they should search for Robin next instead of actually doing something useful. No one noticed his entrance except for Raven who looked up from where she had been watching the others bicker with a trace of annoyance on her face and simply stared at him expectantly.

He took another step forward before clearing his throat to get their attention. Under different circumstances their reactions would have amused him: Starfire and Beast Boy both squeaked and quickly ducked behind Cyborg who let out a surprised "Whoa!" before taking two steps back and Raven simply watched them with a raised eyebrow, but Robin wasn't there, with his signature smirk, to sigh dramatically and ask if they would ever not get a heart attack every time Batman came to visit and that is what made the difference between Batman finding their reactions amusing and him finding them to be just plain annoying.

"Perhaps," he grumbled, "If you lot spent less time bickering," he shot a glare at Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy, "And more time paying attention to your surroundings," he glanced at Raven, "You wouldn't have lost Robin."

The whole team exchanged guilty glances before Cyborg spoke up, "How did you know Robin was missing? We haven't even contacted Titans East about it yet."

"It was I who called him." Starfire answered

"What? But I told you we have it under control!"

"If that were true, Cyborg," Batman all but spat the name out, "You would have been in the field now instead of bickering over where you should search next!"

Cyborg looked down at his feet but didn't say anything

"Give me a full brief, now." Batman ordered.

Cyborg sighed before reluctantly beginning to explain the events of the night Robin went missing, "We've searched basically the whole city," he wound down, "But we haven't been able to find any sign of him. We were just debating over which of the few places left we should search next."

"And what about the bomb fragments? Did you finish reassembling them?" Batman asked

Cyborg nodded, "Whoever built it is good and left no signature so I couldn't trace it to anyone."

Batman nodded, "How many places do you still have left to search?"

"The old warehouse district near the docks and Slade's old haunt and its surrounding areas."

"I say we should have searched Slade's old haunt first." Beast Boy put in, "The last time Robin went missing like this was when Slade kidnapped him and forced him to be his apprentice."

"We don't even know that Slade is alive!" Cyborg argued, "It can't be him."

"We don't know that he's dead either," Raven countered, "The last time Robin and I saw him he was alive and well."

"And he was only alive because of Trigon; he most probably died again when we defeated Trigon." Cyborg argued, "We haven't seen or heard from Slade since then and that was what? Three years ago? If he were still after Robin don't you think he would have tried before now?"

"You know how meticulous he is," Raven said, "He spent months terrorizing us before he took Robin the last time, maybe he's been planning whatever it is he's doing now for this whole time."

Cyborg opened his mouth to lodge another argument but was silenced by Batman, who uttered one, low word: "Quiet."

All bickering stopped as each Titan turned to look at Batman, "Cyborg's argument makes sense," he acknowledged, "But," he carried on before Cyborg could send a smug look at Raven, "So does Raven's. One cannot throw out a theory in a case so dire even if it doesn't seem to make sense, especially when it comes to an adversary as unpredictable as Slade; understood?"

Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy nodded readily in agreement when Cyborg only did so begrudgingly.

"I believe that you should have searched Slade's old haunt first." Batman continued, "Especially if the majority of the team seemed to think that he was behind it."

Cyborg scowled, "If Slade did take Robin then he wouldn't have gone there, it's the first place we would look if we suspected him!"

"Yes, and he might reason that you would think that and ignore the place until it was your last option. Which you obviously have done."

Cyborg opened his mouth to argue but was once again cut off by Batman, "Whether or not he really is there remains to be seen, but sometimes answers present themselves in the most obvious places."

Starfire nodded vigorously, "That is what Robin says whenever we are having difficulty locating somebody or someone."

"Yeah it's exactly what he said before he led us into that warehouse to be blown up." Cyborg grumbled

Instantly his team turned on him

"That was NOT Robin's fault!" Starfire yelled indignantly, "How could you say such a thing?"

"Yeah, man, what gives?" Beast Boy asked, crossing his arms and looking upset for the first time ever since Batman had met him.

"Or did you forget all the times Robin was right and it led us to the answers we were searching for?" Raven added

"You are his best friend," Starfire added accusingly, "How _could _you?"

Cyborg hung his head and lifted his arms up in surrender, "I'm sorry guys," he said as he looked up at them, "I didn't mean it that way. I just…"

"You're stressed out." Beast Boy allowed, "We all are."

Starfire nodded, "That is why I called Batman; we are lost without Robin."

The others nodded before turning their attention to Batman, who had not moved during the whole altercation.

"Slade's haunt?" Cyborg asked

Batman nodded, although he was not used to working with a team of teenage heroes, he got the feeling that if he tried to exclude them things would not end well, "Let's go."

'_I'm coming, Robin, just hang on for a little while longer.'_

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**AN: Cyborg fans, please don't hate on me, everyone says things they don't mean when they're stressed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey guys, sorry this is a little late but I've been struggling with this chapter all week; it just didn't want to flow I guess… but here it is! Hope you guys enjoy it!**

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**Chapter 4**

Robin had described Slade's haunt to him before so he was not surprised when the Titans led him to a warehouse that looked old and dilapidated from the outside. What he wasn't expecting, however, was what it looked like on the inside.

"Whoa, who revamped the haunt?" Beast Boy asked, "And when did they do it?"

"I don't know when," Cyborg answered slowly, "But I've got a pretty good idea who."

"Why would he only revamp the inside?" Raven wondered

"Most likely to stay off your radar. Robin does still monitor this place, doesn't he?" Batman asked

"Yeah he does," Cyborg answered, "But then how did he miss people coming in to revamp the inside?"

"I don't know." Batman answered as he moved further into the haunt.

"Where are the Sladebots?" Beast Boy wondered, "We should have run into some by now."

"You're right." Cyborg answered, "But I don't see any..."

"Maybe Robin took them all out." Beast Boy said

"If Robin took them all out then where is he? And where are the beat-up bots?" Cyborg asked

"Maybe Robin escaped and Slade cleaned up the bots! We probably just missed it!" Beast Boy said

"Yeah I don't think so." Raven answered

"Bunch of pessimists." Beast Boy muttered

"Quiet." Batman grumbled

They soon came into what Batman thought must have been Slade's main operations room as five wall-to-floor screens covered the back wall.

"Slade had our vitals displayed on those screens when he was blackmailing Robin into being his apprentice." Cyborg said

Suddenly Starfire gasped and ran forward towards a colourful pile of material sitting in the middle of the floor. She fell to her knees and looked through the ripped pieces of material. She gasped again as she pulled out what looked like a piece of red cloth from the pile.

"Starfire? What is it?" Cyborg asked as Batman moved to kneel next to her.

She handed the piece of red material to Batman and he almost gasped too. It was a piece of a red tunic, ripped in places, with the remains of a yellow R embroided onto it.

"Robin." He murmured as he looked down at the pile of red, green, yellow and black material

"Look." Starfire said as she pushed the pile of shredded cloth aside. Underneath it was an S in a circle.

"Slade." She and Batman growled in unison.

Suddenly the screens flickered to life.

"Children," Slade's smug, velvety smooth voice washed over them, "You've taken so long. Robin would be disappointed, if he was able to worry about you lot at the moment. Oh and I see you've brought Batman in on it too. Don't trust a bunch of kids with your baby bird, hmm?"

"Slade!" Batman snarled, leaping to his feet, "Where. Is. Robin?"

"Ahh that's for me to know, Batman, for me to know." Slade answered in a condescending tone.

"What have you done with him?!" Starfire demanded

"I believe 'what am I _doing _to him' would be the correct way to phrase that question." Slade answered menacingly.

"Slade you sick son of a-" Batman started

"Ah, ah, ah, Batman, there are children present." Slade cut him off.

"Where. Is. He?" Batman growled, his voice coming out so low that it sent shivers down the Titans' spines.

"He's just in the other room." Slade answered, "Here I'll show you."

The screens flickered and suddenly they were staring at a room so white it hurt their eyes to look at it. The only break in the white was the black of Robin's mask and of his hair. Batman felt his breath catch as he caught sight of his son. Robin was dressed completely in white and was strapped down with white restraints to a white bed, but that wasn't what bothered Batman, it was Robin's behavior.

Robin was thrashing on the bed, trying his best to get free but obviously failing. Batman could see that his boy was panicking; tears streamed down his face and his chest was heaving frantically. There was no sound so when Robin's mouth moved his team mates couldn't hear what he was saying, but Batman didn't need sound; he could read lips and therefore could see exactly what his son was saying, and it broke his heart.

_'Please, make it stop! Make it stop! Please!' _and when that didn't seem to work: '_Bruce... please... help...'_

Bruce felt like his heart was being ripped out, it reminded him of that time he had come home to find Dick on the couch in the den, having a nightmare and begging for the imagined torture to stop, and now Bruce was watching him beg for real torture to stop. It made Bruce sick.

"Robin!" Starfire called out in horror as she too took in the scene on the screens.

Batman tore his gaze away from his son to the Titans. Cyborg and Beast Boy were staring at the screen in abject horror, seemingly unable to avert their gazes; Beast Boy looked as if he might be sick. Raven was also staring at the screen and for once Batman could read the emotion on her face, she was just as horrified as the rest of them but, unlike the others, she seemed to be glowing. Tears were streaming from Starfire's eyes but Batman could see fury and determination quickly beginning to replace the horror in her eyes.

The screen flickered again and Slade reappeared.

"What are you doing to him you sick monster?!" Cyborg demanded immediately

"I'm reconditioning him." Slade answered blandly, as if it was obvious, and to Batman it was, glaringly so, "Blackmail didn't work as his friends were always a distraction, but by the time I'm done with him he won't even remember his own name and then he will be mine. I will build him up into the perfect assassin apprentice that he was always meant to be."

"Not if we have anything to do with it!" Cyborg retaliated, "When we find you you'll regret the day you laid eyes on Robin, do you hear me?!"

Slade chuckled, "Silly boy, you will never find me. I'm not even in Jump City anymore! Granted you may have found him if you had searched my old haunt first, as I'm sure Robin would have done, but oh well."

"You are wrong." Starfire said, "We will find you because we will not stop until Robin is safely with us, where he belongs."

Slade shrugged nonchalantly, "Perhaps you're right, but by the time you find him it will be too. Late. And don't think that having Batman with you will help at all, I've done my research and have learnt that the best place to hide something from a bat is right under its furry little nose."

Batman bristled, "It doesn't matter where you hide, Slade," he growled so low that his throat would hurt for days afterward, "It doesn't matter how many times you switch locations, it doesn't matter how good you think you are. I will find you, and I will make you regret the day you were born."

It took a few minutes for Slade to reply, "I'd like to see you try." And with that he ended the communication.

For a moment there was silence. Then Cyborg crossed his arms with a determined look on his face and said: "Challenge accepted."


	5. Chapter 5

Cyborg was about ready to throw something. He had spent the past two days trying to track down the signal Slade had used to send them that video message but the signal kept bouncing from ISP address to ISP address all over the world, making it impossible to track.

Robin had been missing for 4 days now and they were still no closer to finding him. They had searched Slade's haunt from top to bottom on three different occasions in the past two days and the only clue they found was that Slade's message had been recorded. Batman had spent the last two days watching that video over and over again; trying to pick up on any clues that Slade may have unintentionally dropped while he was speaking and listening to background noises to try and determine the location. Batman had barely come out of Robin's office {where he used to obsess over Slade} in the past two days and Cyborg now knew where Robin had learnt to obsess.

Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire had been in contact with the Titans all over the world to see if had heard anything that might lead them to Robin and if they hadn't to start looking. So far they hadn't had any luck either.

Cyborg took a deep breath and tried to focus on not throwing his laptop across the room.

_'Maybe I should go blow off some steam in the gym.`_

He was just about to act on that thought when Batman walked into his lab. The Dark Knight looked exhausted, as if he might pass out soon and, if how Robin acted in similar situations was anything to go by, the fact that Cyborg could tell as much without scanning his vitals meant that he really was about to pass out.

"Cyborg." Batman said, his voice devoid of it's usual gravel, "Any luck?"

Cyborg sighed, "The signal keeps bouncing all over the place. I can't trace it."

Batman let loose a heavy sigh and his posture slumped almost unnoticeably.

"I guess you didn't find anything either."

Batman shook his head, "Nothing to give me an exact location."

"Damn." Cyborg muttered, resisting the urge to punch the nearest wall.

"I'm going to go back to Slade's haunt, there must be something we're missing." Batman said, straightening up and walking out of the lab.

"Um Batman?" Cyborg called after him, "No offence, sir, but you look like you're about to pass out, maybe you should get some rest first?"

"I'll rest when we have Robin back." Batman answered simply and carried on walking.

"Okay, look," Cyborg said, stepping in front of Batman, "I know you're worried about him, we all are, but you won't be any help to him if you're too tired to actually notice anything that we may have missed."

Batman glared at him, "Do you know what Slade is putting Robin through? It's called 'white torture', a type of sensory deprivation. Victims have come out unable to remember who their parents are, and that's without them being strapped down for the entire duration of the torture. Robin is running out of time. There is no time for us to rest!"

Cyborg almost backed down and let Batman leave right then but he had scanned Batman's vitals and he knew for a fact that the man would be able to go on much longer.

"If there's anyone who can make it through this it's Robin." Cyborg said slowly, "You can't help him if you're too tired and I think you know it."

Batman glared again but Cyborg refused to back down until Batman finally looked away.

"I'm going back in two hours." he stated before turning on his heel and heading for the sleeping quarters.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, "How did you do that?"

Cyborg shrugged, "It was kind of like dealing with Robin." he answered, "Any luck in East City?"

Beast Boy shook his head, "We need a break and we need one _now._"

* * *

An hour and a half later Batman stepped into the gym where Cyborg was busy venting his frustrations.

"Cyborg." he said

Cyborg paused mid-punch and looked to Batman who actually seemed to be looking normal again.

"You on your way out?" Cyborg asked.

"Maybe a little later, but first: do you still have the bomb fragments from when Robin was taken?"

Cyborg looked at him quizzically, "Yeah but I ran them through every database I have access to; the League's included."

"There are a few bomb makers I know of that aren't in any databases." Batman answered, "So I would like to have a look at the fragments."

Cyborg shrugged, "Alright." he said and led Batman back to his lab where he pulled out the bomb fragments and let Batman examine them.

"What makes you think you'll recognise something in the fragments?" Cyborg asked after a moment.

"Something Slade said in the communication that's been bothering me." Batman answered.

"Which part?" Cyborg asked, "All of it bothers me."

" 'The best place to hide something from a bat is under its furry little nose.' " Batman quoted in answer.

"So what do you think he meant by that?"

"I'm not certain," Batman answered as he picked up a magnifying glass and leaned in close to one of the fragments, "But I think it might mean that he's in..." he paused as he picked up the fragment he'd been studying and held it closer to the magnifying glass and turned it over; examining all sides, "... Gotham. Damn it!"

"Woah, wait! He's in Gotham?! What makes you so sure?" Cyborg asked as Batman spun around and left the lab.

"The bomb was made by a man named Sheldon Cooper; he was behind a string of bombings in Gotham lately." Batman answered as he turned towards the tower's hangar, "I caught him two weeks ago."

"Will you be able to get in to talk to him if he's in prison?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes; the commissioner and I have a long history." Batman said as the bat-plane's door started opening.

"Great!" Cyborg said, "So you go ahead to talk to Cooper and we'll follow in the T-plane. Where should we meet you?"

Batman stopped and turned around to face Cyborg, "You're not going to meet me anywhere. You'll be staying here."

"What?!" Cyborg asked incredulously

"Gotham's my city. I will find Robin on my own." Batman said before turning back to the bat-plane.

"Man, that's a load of bull-crap and you know it!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"This is not up for debate, Cyborg!" Batman growled.

"Of course it's up for argument! Robin is our teammate, our leader, our _brother_! Who are you to suddenly exclude us from the search now that he might be in 'your' " he used his fingers to put the word 'your' in punctuation marks, "City?!"

"Cyborg-" Batman growled.

"No! This is a load of crap, Batman! We've all done everything we could to help find Robin as a team! You can't cut us out now! We deserve to help find Robin too!"

"You are not coming with, Cyborg. Gotham is not a place for a bunch of inexperienced teenagers."

"Oh, but it was okay for Robin when he was eight?" Cyborg burst out, "You know I always wondered why Robin left Gotham all those years ago when we started this team, but I'm beginning to understand now."

Batman glared at Cyborg so fiercely that he thought all his metal parts might melt but he didn't back down.

"I don't have time for this!" Batman stated before spinning around again.

"Batman!"

"I'll contact you with co-ordinates for a meeting after I speak to Cooper." Batman said.

"Yeah, we'll meet you on top of the police precinct." Cyborg said.

"Fine." Batman ground out, "Meet me there in three hours."

With that he disappeared into the bat-plane.

Cyborg went to the main room in the tower and quickly called the rest of the Titans.

"We're going to Gotham."

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**AN: Hey guys, sorry this one is sooo late but I did warn you that I would be going on holiday a few chapters ago! Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! Feel free to point out any mistakes because I haven't gone through this chapter yet since it's late and I didn't want to make you guys wait much longer for this chapter! Next one should be out by Sunday or Monday... I hope ;) **


	6. Chapter 6

There wasn't much he was sure of anymore. He wasn't sure where he was, he wasn't sure what was happening to him or why but most of all... most of all he wasn't sure of who he was anymore. He wasn't sure of his name or where he came from, everything seemed to be lost to him.

No, there wasn't much he was sure of anymore, but there were three things he was sure of, and he clung to those three things like a drowning man clings to a floating log.

He was sure that the man with black and orange mask was bad and never to be trusted. He was sure that the only person he ever could trust was a man dressed entirely in black with a bat on his chest and most of all... most of all he was absolutely certain that he needed to escape.

He knew not how long he had been in this white hell of a prison and he'd lost count of the amount of times he'd tried to escape but he hadn't stopped trying. His failures at escape were marked by the bandages wrapped round his hands from the two different occasions when he'd dislocated a thumb in an attempt to free his hands in order to free himself from the rest of his bonds. The man with the black and orange mask had come to stop him within minutes and had relocated his thumbs without giving him so much as a pain pill. For some reason that had hurt more that when they'd been dislocated.

He'd accidentally dislocated his shoulder too during one of his escape attempts, it had been treated in the same manner as his thumbs. He hadn't been able to hold back the pained scream that tore through his throat at that point. The man with the black and orange mask had merely tsked at him and told him that he had brought it on himself before leaving the room. The noise in the room had returned then, much louder than before, his head felt like it might explode.

It had given him an idea for a plan though. The man with the black and orange mask had freed his arm in order to pop his shoulder back, the only reason why he hadn't utilised the opportunity to escape was because he hadn't been expecting any of it, but next time he would be ready. He wasn't particularly happy with the idea of having to dislocate his shoulder again, but he would need at least one good arm if he was going to escape.

He would also need to build up his strength if he wanted any chance of fighting the man with the black and orange mask off. That meant that he would have to be complacent the next time the man came in to put the tubes into him. He was pretty sure that those tubes were what kept him from dying of starvation and dehydration but he still tried his best to fight whenever the man came to insert the tubes into his arm, partly because he didn't trust anything that the man with the orange and black mask did, but mostly because he hated being poked by needles. Hmmm... well that at least put the number of things he was sure of up to four. The maddening sound also ceased when the man came in and he would pass out from exhaustion minutes after the man finished inserting the tubes. Sometimes he wondered if it was more than the exhaustion, maybe something mixed into the clear liquid that emptied out of the little bag into his veins, that made him pass out but he couldn't be sure. Not that it mattered. What mattered was that he not fight sleep this time but embrace it. He would need all the rest he could get before the noise exploded back on and tore him from his slumber as it did every single time. He sighed, at least he seemed to be getting better at tuning the noise out to a certain extent, he -

His thought cut off as the noise suddenly stopped. Time for his daily tubing. At least he assumed it was a daily occurrence since he didn't really have much of a concept of time anymore.

He heard the sound of a door opening and closing followed by the sound of approaching footsteps and the squeak of small wheels travelling across the floor. The man with the orange and black mask suddenly appeared in his field of vision and he instinctively snarled and tensed, suddenly unable to control his body's reactions. He just wanted to get out. Out of these restraints, out of this room, out of wherever here was. He just wanted it all to stop, he wanted to go _home._ The fact that he didn't even know where home was was enough to bring tears to his eyes but he blinked them back furiously. He refused to show any weakness in front of his tormentor if he could at all help it.

The man didn't say anything, which was a little strange because the man usually couldn't stop telling him how much of a useless nobody he was, but he couldn't care less. He just watched impassively as the man inserted the tube into his arm. The man made as to leave but then suddenly turned and grabbed his injured shoulder. He wasn't expecting it and so he couldn't help crying out, the tears that he had been fighting back forced over the edge by the sudden pain. The man only chuckled before releasing his grip and leaving again.

He was breathing hard as he waited for the pain to subside. He didn't understand why the man took so much pleasure in causing him pain, but it didn't matter. The next time he woke up he would escape... or he would do his best to die trying.


	7. Chapter 7

It was in the early hours of the fifth morning since the last time Robin had been with them that Raven descended from the T-plane with her teammates to meet Batman and a man who she knew to be Commissioner Gordon from one of the few memories she had accidentally gained access to when she had linked her mind to Robin's for the first time. Raven let out a soft sigh as she landed on the roof of the police station; she had attempted to use the link she shared with Robin to try and verify whether or not he was in the city but hadn't felt anything that she could be sure really was Robin. There had been a faint trace of something that might have been him, but for all she knew it could have just been some lingering traces of him emanating from his home, she was even picking up the same vague sense of him coming the very building they were standing on. She would need to be closer to Robin to actually access his mind again. If he even was in this city. She shook her head slightly; if Beast Boy could hear her thoughts he would frown at her and tell her to stop being so pessimistic. The thought drew a slight frown to her face, what did that have to do with anything? It didn't matter what Beast Boy's reaction to her thoughts would be! _'Get a grip, Raven!' _she chastised herself as Batman explained to the commissioner who the new arrivals were and what they were doing there.

The commissioner merely raised an eyebrow at Batman, "Thought you didn't like having strangers in Gotham."

Batman grimaced, "I don't." he ground out and offered no further explanation.

"So did Sheldon Cooper tell you anything useful?" Cyborg asked Batman

"Possibly," Batman answered, "He said that he had been contacted by an anonymous buyer to build a bomb that wouldn't do too much damage and that would release a knock out gas when it exploded. He was given instructions to drop the bomb off in a warehouse near the docks. There was a bag of money waiting for him when he got there. He left the bomb, took the money and never heard from the buyer again."

"Did he give you an address?" Cyborg asked

Batman gave a curt nod, "I'm sending it to you now. I'll meet you there." With that Batman turned, shot out a line and disappeared into the night.

"You know, I think it looks cooler when Robin does that, you know, 'cause you can actually see him when he does it." Beast Boy commented.

Raven rolled her eyes but she had to admit that he was right, not that she would ever do so out loud.

"He's missing, isn't he?" the commissioner asked as they prepared to go back to the T-plane.

"Batman didn't tell you?" Cyborg asked.

Commissioner Gordon scoffed, "Batman, tell me something like that? Now that would be an interesting occurrence. I'd probably fall over from shock."

The others seemed taken a back at that statement but Raven wasn't surprised. Batman hadn't even wanted them to come with to find Robin, why would he even tell the commissioner that Robin was missing? The others never thought of things that way though, only Robin did, which was why he was such a good leader for them. He could read each of them like a book and he acted upon what he saw written on their faces, in their body language and in their behaviour, to ensure that they always worked well together and that they never felt lonely, misunderstood or unwanted; as they had been before the Teen Titans had been formed. They needed him to keep them together. Cyborg took the lead well enough when he needed too but he lacked that ability to read all of them that Robin did and Raven was certain that if they didn't get Robin back soon the team would fall apart. They needed to find him soon!

Raven grimaced as the lightbulb over the roof entrance of the police entrance suddenly blew out, causing the commissioner to nearly jump two meters in the air. She needed to get a grip on her emotions; she'd never find Robin if she didn't.

"We need to leave." She interrupted whatever Cyborg had been telling the commissioner before taking off without waiting for a reply.

As soon as she got into the T-plane she immediately started her meditation, clearing her mind of all things except finding Robin's mind.

She didn't notice as the others also boarded the plane or as they started flying toward the docks. The faint traces of him seemed to be growing stronger and she latched on to them, trying to locate Robin himself but it seemed as if he was just out of her reach, like if she could reach only a little further she would reach him but it was as if something was preventing her from actually getting to him.

"Raven."

Her eyes snapped open as she felt a light weight land on her shoulder. She looked over to see a green hand resting there and immediately shot an annoyed glare up at Beast Boy's worried mien.

He immediately removed his hand, "We're at the docks, Batman's probably waiting for us." He told her as he stepped back out of her personal space.

She grimaced as she unfolded her limbs and ceased levitating in mid-air.

"Find anything?" Beast Boy inquired as they moved towards the T-plane's exit.

She frowned as she nodded, "It's weird though, he's close, I can definitely feel him, but it's like he's mind is enclosed behind some kind of wall." She told him.

He stopped before transforming so that he could fly down to join Cyborg and Starfire on the ground below, "You think Slade's doing something to block you?" he asked worriedly, "I mean he was working for your father the last time we saw him, what if he knows some way to take you out specifically? Maybe he knows about your mind link with Robin?"

Raven shook her head, "If he was using anything he learnt from his time with my father I'd be able to sense it. This is different, I don't know what exactly it is and I can't explain it, but I don't think Slade's behind it."

Beast Boy still looked worried but there wasn't much else she could do to ease his worries.

"Come on, the others are waiting." She said as she prepared to step out of the plane.

"Raven," he called her back, he blushed slightly as she turned and looked at him expectantly, "You'll, uh, you'll tell us if you do feel something like Slade using any of your father's methods, right?"

Raven couldn't stop a small smile from forming on her lips as she nodded, "Come on."

"What took so long?" Cyborg asked as Raven and Beast Boy landed.

"Raven was trying to find Robin." Beast Boy answered.

"Oh, were you able to find him?" Starfire asked, staring at Raven pleadingly.

Raven was glad to actually have good news for her for once, "I can't pinpoint him exactly, but he's definitely close by."

"Oh that is wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed, rising a few centimetres into the air, "Come friends, let us go find and inform Batman so that we may work together to find him faster!"

"We're coming, Star." Beast Boy said with a slight grin as Cyborg led the way to the warehouse at the address they Batman got from Sheldon Cooper.

The warehouse was dark when they entered and Starfire immediately manifested a ball of energy around her hand to light the area up.

"You think Batman's here yet?" Beast Boy asked.

"You're late." Batman's voice suddenly came from the darkness causing Beast Boy to jump about a meter in the air and then jump behind Raven.

Batman seemed to materialise out of the darkness where his voice had come from a few seconds later causing Starfire and Cyborg to start and take a step back. Raven rolled her eyes; you'd think they'd be used to it by now.

"We got a little caught up." Cyborg said, "Raven says Robin is close."

Batman's gaze moved to Raven, "How do you know?"

"Robin told you about the time I linked our minds?" Raven asked.

Batman nodded.

"Ever since then we've shared a kind of a mental connection, I've been trying to find him through that. It was difficult in Jump City because there are so many residual traces of him there, I had the same problem when we first entered Gotham, but I can feel him now. He's close." Raven explained

"How close?" Batman asked.

"I don't know," Raven said, "I can't link directly to his mind like I usually can, something's blocking me."

"Hm." Batman said, "We'll be able to cover more ground if we split up. I've already searched the left side of the bottom floor. Beast Boy, you and I will search the rest of the bottom floor. Starfire and Raven, you search the top floor. Cyborg, see if you can find a computer."

The Titans all nodded and split up to do as they were told. Raven flew up to the second floor with Starfire where they decided to split up and each search a side. They made the circuit but didn't find anything of note so they went back down to meet with Beast Boy and Batman.

"Find anything?" Batman asked.

Raven and Starfire shook their heads.

"Hey, where's Cy?" Beast Boy asked.

"Hey guys!" Cyborg called from the room he had been in on the second floor that Raven had seen him go into a while earlier, "I think I got something."

The rest of the Titans and Batman quickly headed to the room to find Cyborg standing in front of a computer screen.

"I found security cameras." He explained when they had all entered, "They were turned off when I came in but turning them back on was easy. I did some hacking and found that they can be set to relay the images back to another source, they're not relaying anything right now but I should be able to track the signal they used."

Batman nodded, "Won't whoever the signal's being relayed to be alerted as soon as you turn it back on again?"

"Usually, but usually I'm not the one doing the hacking. It will take a little longer but I should be able to trace where he is within a three mile radius. Unless you want me to try and pin point his location exactly, but yeah that most likely will tip Slade off that we're coming for him."

"And knowing Slade he has a plan for exactly that happening." Raven added.

Batman nodded again, "I don't want to risk losing them again, Robin's mind is strong but he's never been subjected to this kind of thing before, I don't want him with that monster for longer than necessary."

"Three mile radius it is." Cyborg said, "Give me a few minutes."

Something Batman said was ringing in Raven's mind. _'Robin's mind is strong.' _This was nothing new to Raven; she had been in his mind so she _knew _how strong it was. So what about his mind being strong was bothering her? Then suddenly, like a light switching on in her brain, she knew. There wasn't something blocking her, it was some_one_! Robin was blocking her. But why? She intended to find out.

"Raven?" Beast Boy asked as she moved into her levitating meditation position, "What's up?"

"I'm about to find out." She said before closing her eyes and concentrating.

She located what she knew to be the presence of Robin's mind easily and came up against the same barrier she had before.

'_Robin.' _She called to him with her mind, _'It's Raven, you need to let me in again.'_

There was no response or change in the barrier. _'Robin, come on! Star and Batman are going crazy… we all are… please.' _She sensed a slight weakening in the barrier, _'Robin? What did I say to get you to react? Please?' _Nothing happened again, _'Starfire?' _still nothing, _'Batman?' _there it was again, that slight weakening of the barrier, _'Yes he's with us, Robin. Let me in so I can help him find you.' _The barrier was weakening but not enough for her to get in yet. She didn't understand why he wasn't just letting her in, but she had an idea. She opened her eyes and stared directly at Batman, who was apparently watching her intently, and pushed the image right into the barrier blocking her from Robin's mind and suddenly she was in. Not all the way but far enough that she would be able to find him now. He was very close by.

"I've got him!" Raven exclaimed at the same time that Cyborg declared that he had the signal but all eyes were on Raven, "Come on, he's not far!" she exclaimed, immediately running out the door and down the stairs to the warehouse's exit with everyone else close on her tail.

'_We're coming Robin!'_

* * *

**AN: Just a note to say thanks to everyone who has taken the time to follow and favourite this story and double thanks to those of you who take the time to review! And a special thanks to ForrestGuardian311 who takes the time to correct my mistakes! **

**Ok so I didn't mention this back in chapter 5 because I thought it would be glaringly obvious but apparently the Big Bang theory reference I made wasn't as obvious as I thought it was since only Fruityloops saw it, and I told her to look for it… so a shout out will be posted to whoever finds it in this chapter, it's in here twice! **

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hey guys, I am SOOOOOOO sorry for such a delayed update! I know it's been over a month and I am so so so sorry for making you guys wait this long! Last month was much busier than I thought it would be and I barely got any time to write. On top of that I had writer's block so when I did get time to write I wrote maybe five sentences and then hit a blank but it's finally here! Just a warning though, the next few chapters will come slowly because this month and next month is going to be much busier for me than last month was, I'm going to try my best to not take a month to post the next chapter but I unfortunately can't make any promises but if this story isn't finished by the end of April, I will have much more time in July so then I will be able to finish it more quickly but for now please just bear with me. Thank you so much to all of you who have taken the time to favourite, follow and review this story, each of you gave me more incentive to write! Hope you all have a good weekend!**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"Oh, yeah," Cyborg said grimly, "We definitely have the right place alright."

Starfire turned to look at him, she knew he had been scanning the warehouse Raven had led them to with his internal scanning systems, "Do you see Robin?!" she asked urgently.

Cyborg shook his head, "If he is inside I won't be able to tell from out here, but the place is crawling with Slade-bots, and if that's not smoke to a Slade fire then I don't know what is."

"Robin is in there," Raven said, her eyes closed in concentration, "I think he's unconscious though, I still can't solidify the connection with him."

"How many Slade-bots are there?" Batman asked Cyborg.

"Twenty outside, probably more inside."

Batman nodded, "Stick together for the infiltration. Once we're inside Cyborg and I will go after Slade, the rest of you find Robin and get him on the Bat-plane; I've called it to this location, it will open for Robin."

The Titians nodded and moved out, following Batman's lead.

They got in fairly quickly; none of them were in a good mood, which was evident by the piles of crumpled robotic bodies they left in their wake. Starfire made good use of the opportunity to finally let go of the anxiety and anger she had been suppressing for the past week and most of the crumpled robotic bodies were also smouldering as a result of being blasted by her star-bolts.

As soon as they entered the building Raven stopped and closed her eyes, concentrating on Robin's consciousness.

"He's this way." She said, indicating a hallway leading to the left.

The others nodded in acknowledgement.

"Where is Slade?" Batman growled.

Raven closed her eyes and focused again.

"On this level," she answered, "He doesn't know we're here yet, but that won't last long."

"No," Batman said, his voice sending chills up even Raven's spine, "It won't."

With that he turned and stalked away in the direction Raven pointed where Slade would be.

Cyborg made to follow him but then hesitated and turned to the others, "Be careful."

"You too." Beast Boy answered.

Cyborg nodded and turned to follow Batman.

Starfire and Beast Boy turned to Raven who immediately started leading them down the hallway she had pointed out earlier and down a flight of stairs until they reached a door guarded by no less than six Slade-bots.

"Well it's pretty obvious where Robin is." Beast Boy stated.

"I will take care of them." Starfire stated, once again making good use of an opportunity to vent her frustrations.

All six guards lay in a smouldering heap a few seconds later and she wasted no time in turning to the door they were guarding and ripping it open.

As they entered the first thing that hit her was an almost overwhelming noise. A static so loud that she it made her want to cover her ears. The next thing was the intensity of the white. For her, coming out of a colourful world and stepping right into a world of nothing but white, it was almost painful; like suddenly looking into a bright light. And Robin had been kept in this room for going on five days. _Five days. _She could barely take five more minutes of this.

Her eyes landed on a black smudge that was the only break in the oppressive white. Robin lay atop a white bed, facing away from the door and was not moving. Starfire immediately went straight to him, Beast Boy was right on her heels and Raven was lagging behind but she didn't notice, she was focused entirely on Robin.

She froze when she got close enough to actually see the state he was in. He was strapped down to the bed; a strap over each ankle, below and above each knee, in the middle of each thigh, over his hips, across his chest, over each wrist, in the middle of each forearm, above and below each elbow, in the middle of each upper arm and across his shoulders. Starfire was horrified. She knew that Robin _hated_ being tied down, she couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him to be tied down like this for the past five days. Then she focused on Robin himself; he was much too pale and she could see from how tightly the straps were fixed that he had lost much weight. His eyes were closed but he didn't look peaceful, as one should when unconscious, he had almost solid black rings below his eyes and his face was lined with pain.

"Oh, Robin..." she moaned, reaching out to begin untying him but she could barely hear herself over the static, in fact she was sure that it had gotten louder since she entered.

She glanced over her shoulder and found that Beast Boy had his hands clamped over his ears and Raven looking like she wanted to follow his example. Starfire caught Raven`s eye and made a gesture to her ears and then gestured at the room at large. Raven seemed to understand and nodded, then her eyes started to glow and Starfire saw her mouth her words of power. Seconds later energy shot out from her raised hands and went to various points in the room.

Starfire stopped watching and focused on untying Robin again. She didn't bother trying to unlock the straps but rather just broke the straps as if they were made of paper, doing it like that let her untying him quickly so that by the time the static cut off with a loud boom as Raven shorted out the speakers Starfire had finished untying him.

At the sound of the speakers shorting out Robin shot upright with a hoarse scream and looked around wildly.

"Robin!" Starfire exclaimed, "You are alright!"

She surged forward to hug him but he jerked to the side so hard that he fell off the other side of the bed. He cried out in pain as he landed but quickly got to his feet and moved to the far side of the room. He pressed his back against the wall and watched them warily as he clutched his left arm to his chest.

"Robin!" Starfire gasped in shock.

Robin flinched at the sound of her voice but besides that only continued watching them the way a lone wolf would watch an opposing pack of wolves.

Starfire made to move toward him but she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait," Raven said, "His mind... I still can't get in... I don't think he knows who we are."

"What?!" Starfire and Beast Boy exclaimed.

"How can he not know who we are?!" Beast Boy asked.

Robin flinched again and seemed like he was trying to melt into the wall.

"Beast Boy keep your voice down!" Raven hissed at him, "He's scared and confused. Beast Boy go find Batman, I think he may be the only one that Robin will actually recognise."

Beast Boy nodded and transformed into a cheetah before disappearing out of the room.

"Star, we're staying here but don't approach him. I don't think he'll react well."

Starfire looked to Raven, "But why? Why will he not react well to us coming closer to him? Why does he keep looking at us like we are going to hurt him? Why does he not know who we are?" she asked with tears brimming her eyes.

Raven watched Robin for a moment and Starfire followed her gaze, he had sunk down to the floor and had his knees pulled up to his chest with his left arm nestled safely between his legs and chest and his other arm wrapped around his legs but he hadn't taken his eyes off them.

Raven looked back to Starfire, "Like I said, he's scared and confused right now; I think Batman will be able to help, but for now we need to not scare and confuse him more."

Starfire sniffed and swiped at her eyes before nodding and sinking to the floor and assuming a position similar to Robin's.

'_Please come back, Robin… I need you.'_


	9. Chapter 9

Slade crashed down to the floor and barely had a second to suck in a breath before a heavy boot landed on his chest and pushed down hard, making it so that he could only take short, shallow breaths.

He let out a strangled chuckle, "What… don't you… want to know… why I did it? … My evil plan for… world… domi… nation?" he gasped out as the pressure on his chest increased with each word.

Batman snarled and bent down to pick Slade up by his shirt and then slammed him into a wall.

He leaned in close to Slade's face, "I. Don't. Care." He growled in that low, gravelly voice that he knew for a fact could make grown men cry for their mommies. As it was he could feel very slight tremors going through Slade's body now.

"Don't you?" Slade sneered, his voice coming out very steady for someone who was shaking from fear. He had excellent control of himself; Batman had to give him that.

"No," Batman growled, "I don't care because you failed. Robin is _not_ yours. He never _was_ and he never _will_ be. You'd better get that into that thick skull of yours because if you don't I will beat it into you. You may have thought it was a clever idea to hide from me in my own territory but that was your second greatest mistake and now when the police come they will lock you up somewhere where I can get to you and I will come every single night until you get this idea that you could own a child and force him to do your bidding out of your head. Do. You. Understand?"

Slade made no move to answer and Batman was just about to lever a savage blow into his jaw when he was interrupted by the arrival of Beast Boy.

"Batman! You need to come with me now! Something's wrong with Robin, he won't let us near him." Beast Boy blurted out in a panicky voice.

There was a silence in the room for a few seconds as that information sunk in and then Slade started laughing.

His laughter only lasted for a few seconds before Batman's fist collided with his face and rendered him completely unconscious.

Batman turned to Cyborg, "Bring him, we're not taking any chances, he may not escape."

Cyborg nodded and went to pick Slade up and throw him over his shoulder.

Batman turned to Beast Boy, "Take us to him."

Beast Boy immediately turned around and started running back the way he came, Batman and Cyborg close on his heels.

The oppressive white of the room hit Batman as it had hit the others as he entered the room but he ignored it, his eyes immediately searching out his son. His eyes fell first on Starfire, who was crouched on the floor, staring straight ahead, and Raven, who was hovering close by. Then his eyes met with the blood-shot blue eyes which had locked on him the moment he had entered the room and he felt as if his heart had shattered into a million pieces. He didn't even notice that his mask was missing, didn't stop to wonder just how much Slade knew about his son and himself now. None of that mattered. What mattered was that his sweet, loving, _strong _child looked absolutely broken and was staring at him almost exactly as he had when he was a little boy and had just lost his parents. Dick looked exhausted and terrified and in pain and pleading, as if begging Bruce to make it all go away, and hell if Bruce wasn't going to grant that request as quickly and as effectively as he could.

He immediately started moving toward Dick but was stopped by Raven.

"Wait," She said, "I don't think he knows who we are. He's scared and confused so just take it slow with him."

Batman wanted to turn on her to snarl that he knew that, it was plainly obvious just by the look in his eyes, but he resisted the urge. Dick was scared and confused, he didn't need to scare and confuse him more by exploding at the floating girl. So he just nodded and continued moving toward Dick, going at the slow pace he had been planning on going. Dick's eyes never left him as he approached but the boy cringed as he crouched down to his level, as if expecting to be hit.

"Dick," Bruce said, dropping his Batman growl and using his normal voice, "I won't hurt you."

Dick squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep, shuddering breath, "I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice hoarse, "I… don't know who you are." His eyes opened and Bruce could see the tears there, threatening to spill over, "I… I don't know who _I _am." And with that admission he dropped his head onto his knees and started sobbing quietly.

Bruce wanted to cry right along with him but he reined it in, Batman did not cry. He reached out to rest a hand on Dick's shoulder, "It's okay, Dickie, I-" he was cut off as Dick suddenly cried out in pain as Batman's hand landed on his injured shoulder. Batman immediately pulled his hand away, "What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"Hurts." Dick gasped

"What does? Your shoulder?" Batman asked.

Dick nodded; his head still on his knees.

"Okay," Bruce soothed, "We'll make it better, but we need to get you to the plane first, okay?"

Dick merely nodded again.

"Okay, you're going to have to stand up for me though, can you do that?"

Dick took a deep breath before looking up at Batman again, "I think so." He said as he used his right arm to wipe his face dry.

Bruce had the sudden urge to lay into Slade all over again; instead he stood and offered Dick his hand.

Dick hesitated before taking it, "… Why do I trust you?" he wondered out loud as he took Batman's outstretched hand and allowed himself to be pulled up.

He stood for a second before he wobbled and his knees seemed to go out from under him. Batman quickly caught him and scooped him up into his arms, making sure it was his right shoulder that pressed into his chest instead of his left one.

"I don't know, kiddo." He murmured to Dick, "Maybe it's because I trust _you_."

Dick looked up at him with wide eyes, "How can you trust someone who forgot you?" he asked.

Bruce felt a twang in his chest but ignored it, "You didn't really forget me, Dick." He answered with a confidence he only partly felt, "It'll come back to you."

"How can you be so sure?"

Batman allowed a small smile to grace his lips just long enough for Dick to see it, "Because I know you."

With that he swept his cape over the alarmingly thin figure in his arms and turned to the Titans. Starfire was crying openly while the rest of the team was watching on grimly. Slade was propped up against the wall closest to the door where Cyborg was keeping a watchful eye over him.

"Is he-?" Starfire started.

"He'll be alright, Starfire." Batman rumbled, "I'm taking him home to recuperate."

"What should we do with him?" Cyborg asked, indicating Slade.

Batman glanced down at the sorry excuse for a man in disdain, "Put him where he had Robin."

Cyborg smiled in grim satisfaction and nodded before moving to pick Slade up again.

"I'll contact the police from the plane. You lot should go home. I'll keep you updated on his progress."

Starfire nodded, "Thank you, Batman."

Batman turned to face Starfire full on, "Thank _you._" He said, his eyes resting briefly on each member of the Teen Titans before turning on his heel and stalking out of the room.

He could feel Robin still shaking against him, "It's alright, I'm getting you out of here."

He felt Dick nod against his chest.

By the time they reached the plane Dick had stilled and when Batman lifted his cape he saw that the boy had fallen asleep. He took him to the med bay and laid him on one of the beds there before giving him a small dose of morphine to keep him comfortable during the trip home. When he was sure Dick was comfortable he went back to the cockpit. He kept the plane hovering over the warehouse just long enough to see the Titans exit the warehouse and board their own plane before heading back to the manor.

Dick woke up just as Batman finished laying him down on one of the beds in the cave's medical bay.

"Hey," he murmured as he reached up to pull his cowl off, transforming himself back into Bruce Wayne, "How are you doing?"

Dick only stared up at him miserably before tears started welling up in his eyes again.

"Oh kiddo," Bruce moaned softly, "Don't cry, please. Is it your shoulder? Does it hurt again?"

Dick shook his head, "I'm sorry," he choked out, his voice still hoarse, "I just… you keep talking like you know me but I… I still can't remember…" he trailed off with a sob.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh," Bruce bade him as he reached out to cup Dick's cheek, fighting his own tears again; Dick hadn't looked this lost since the night his parents had been murdered, "It's alright, you'll remember."

"But what if I don't?"

"Dick-"

"Is that my name?" Dick cut him off suddenly, "I mean you keep calling me that, but those other girls kept calling me Robin… so which is it?"

Bruce gave a wry smile, "It's both."

Dick looked totally confused.

"I'll explain more later," Bruce promised, "But right now Alfred's going to want to check you for injuries and then you need to get some rest. We'll work on your memories in the morning, alright?"

Dick watched him for a moment before nodding, "Is your name Batman all the time or do you have two names too?"

Bruce smiled sadly, "I'm only Batman when the cowl is on, just like you're only Robin when your mask is on, otherwise I'm Bruce and you're Dick."

Dick nodded seriously before griping Bruce's hand tightly, "Thank you, for… for saving me and… everything else."

Bruce squeezed his hand back and replied, "I'll always come to save you Dick, you might not remember that right now but it's true, and you never have to thank me for everything else."

Dick smiled gratefully up at Bruce.

"Master Dick," Alfred announced his presence, "It is very good to see you again."

Dick looked to Bruce in confusion.

"Dick, this is Alfred, he takes care of us." Bruce explained.

"Oh," Dick said before looking to Alfred, "I'm sorry, I don't remember anything…"

Alfred immediately looked extremely worried, "Did you suffer a head injury, sir?"

"Not that I can remember." Dick answered.

"I didn't find any evidence of anything, Alfred." Bruce added.

"Hmm well I'll feel better after having checked for myself. Now then, young sir, are there any injuries you know of?"

An hour later Dick's shoulder and thumbs were wrapped and he had a healthy dose of pain medication in his system. Bruce carried him up to his bed and tucked him in, then sat on the edge of the bed and carded his fingers through his sleeping son's hair. He was determined not to leave his side tonight, he just hoped that sleeping in his own bed might actually be enough to bring Dick's memories back…

* * *

**AN: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter :) the next chapter will be from Dick's POV again.**

**I just wanted to take a minute to tell you guys about stories I'm betaing: If you want a real tear jerker, check out 'Bright My Life' by Aurum Cast and if you want a Damian centric angsty story check out 'Even Tough Cookies Crack' by theraincanttouchus, both stories are really good and I totally advise checking them out! 'Bright My Life' is still in progress but 'Tough Cookies' is completed. **

**Hope everyone has a good week and thank you so much again to those of you who have followed, faved and reviewed! I love you all :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Three days later Dick still didn't remember who he was. He didn't remember Bruce. He didn't remember Alfred. He didn't remember the Manor. He didn't remember _anything_.

They'd tried lots of different methods to bring his memory back: Bruce had pulled out photo albums dating back to when he'd taken Dick in – he didn't even remember being taken in, or the events that lead up to it. Bruce even showed him a picture of him with his parents – this photo at least tugged at something in his memory but not enough to actually mean anything.

When the photos didn't work Alfred suggested taking a tour, perhaps the familiar surroundings – the sights, sounds and smells of the different rooms and areas – would jog a few memories. All that did was make Bruce smile sadly because apparently he reacted in almost the same way that he had the first time he'd taken the tour (who could blame him though, the place was HUGE!). Then they tried going for a walk in the forest, using the same reasoning they had for the tour of the house, Dick didn't expect it to work but he went along with it any way.

That didn't turn out to be such a good idea. Dick was still sensitive to his surroundings due to the sensory deprivation he had gone through in that damned white room and the outside world turned out to be too much for him to handle – he'd been okay for the first fifteen or so minutes but after that he hadn't been able to take it anymore. He didn't remember exactly what happened then, Bruce told him that he'd basically had a mild panic attack and Bruce had to carry him back into the house and up to his room to get him to calm down. Bruce blamed himself entirely for that, saying that he should have taken Dick's sensitivity into consideration. Dick felt like he'd failed Bruce in some way and for some reason that thought alone was so upsetting that it caused him to burst into tears. Bruce had gasped and immediately started apologizing while holding Dick close. The closeness made Dick feel a little better but then he couldn't remember why it did which just made him cry more and… yeah, that's how the first day went.

Alfred brought them chocolate chip cookies later that night. Dick took one bite and immediately remembered that he _loved _those cookies! He supposed that remembering that he loved Alfred's chocolate chip cookies was better than nothing.

They decided to take it easy the second day. Dick and Bruce basically spent the whole day talking; Bruce told him more about who he was, what he did and his life in general and then Bruce got Dick to talk about the nightmares he'd been having.

Dick didn't feel like there was much Bruce could do about those, or that there was much to tell about them: all his nightmares were about that white room, but Bruce coaxed him into telling him everything about the dreams. He was surprised to find that talking about them actually did make him feel better and that night he found himself crawling into Bruce's bed for comfort after a particularly bad dream. He slept like the dead for the rest of that night which was something else that came as a surprise.

His memories still didn't come back though, which was less of a surprise. Bruce told Dick that he was sure his memories would come back with time. Dick hoped he was right; he was already so done with having amnesia.

Bruce decided to use the third day to tell Dick about Batman and Robin. That information just about made Dick's head explode. He and Bruce spent their nights running around in costumes and fighting crime? He couldn't decide if that sounded incredibly stupid or unbelievably awesome. Then Bruce showed him the bat-cave. As he stood in the middle of the cave, taking it all in in awe, he decided to go with 'unbelievably awesome'. If only it would jog a few memories, that would make it even more unbelievably awesome.

Dick could tell that Bruce wasn't taking the whole amnesia thing very well either. He hid it well, of course, but Dick could tell that it was bothering Bruce as much as it was bothering him. He mentioned it to Alfred at tea time; the old butler had smiled sadly and said that Dick still knew Bruce well, even if he didn't remember it.

Tea time. Alfred re-introduced that to him on the second day. He explained that it was something of a tradition between the two of them to have tea together every day at 3.30 in the afternoon. Dick didn't know why but sitting down with a cup of tea and a cookie with the dear old butler made him feel very happy. It even tugged at a memory, but once again it wasn't enough to actually bring that memory all the way back to him.

He really needed his memories to come back; he just didn't know how to get them back. He'd overheard Bruce say something about calling in someone called 'Manhunter' in to take a look at Dick's mind. Dick didn't know who or what he was talking about, but he didn't really feel comfortable with someone or something with a name like that poking around in his mind. He couldn't think of a different option though, whenever he tried he only thought of drinking blood from a Gorgon's right side. He had no idea why he thought of that, but it was obviously a preposterous idea, although Bruce was considering calling a Manhunter so maybe it wasn't so far-fetched of an idea after all.

Dick shook his head as he got into bed, tomorrow he would go through the library and find every book he could find on amnesia, maybe he'd find something that helps and maybe, he thought as he closed his eyes, he should look up the medicinal properties of blood from a Gorgon's right side while he's at it.

**AN: Sorry for another long wait guys, but thanks for putting up with it! Thank you so much to all my followers and favs and especially thank you to all my reviewers! You guys rock!**

**Ps: for those of you who are not Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus fans: Dick is thinking of a book he read, namely 'Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune' by Rick Riordan in which Percy Jackson got his memory back by drinking blood from the right side of a Gorgon (blood from a Gorgon's right side can heal anything but blood from their left side is deadly) … I couldn't resist the referencing it as the Percy Jackson books are my absolute favourite :D**

**Until next time guys! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The moment when his hands leave the handlebar of the trapeze is one of the best parts. In that moment he is flying, he's really free, and he relishes the feeling. The very best part, however, is when he's reached the highest point of his upward arc, the critical moment in his flight when his body needs to curl in on itself to execute the somersault. The rush of adrenaline is amazing, at its highest level right then, it's the moment he lives for every night.

Then his hands grab the waiting handlebar of the next trapeze and the feeling of ultimate freedom lessens – being on the trapeze itself is a type of freedom in itself but being in the air with nothing to hold him up, really and truly flying, that's the ultimate freedom. He uses the momentum from his double somersault (the quadruple comes later) to send the trapeze forward and lets go again to land on the platform next to his mother.

As always, for a moment he is mesmerized by the sight of his mother. She's so beautiful in her Flying Grayson's costume but it's the look she gives him every time he comes off the trapeze that really mesmerizes him; a look of pure love and adoration for her son. He had missed that look so much, he had no idea how he had gone so long without it. Then her gaze shifts to his father's graceful form swinging across the trapeze with liquid movements, and the spell is broken. He moves in to give his mother a quick hug and then moves aside as she readies herself to join his father for their last duet part of the performance before he joins them both for the grand finale of their performance.

He watches with baited breath as his mother jumps off the platform and lands in his father's waiting hands. This part of the show always scares him, he's so sure that the moment his father catches his mother the sound of their hands and forearms colliding will be followed by an awful snap, a horrified scream and the sickening _thud-crunch _of their bodies hitting the floor, but it doesn't happen. His parents carry on with their duet, their lines didn't snap, everything's okay for another night, and he lets out the breath he had been holding.

He spends the next five minutes watching his parents in awe, as he does every night. Watching his parents perform separately is amazing, both of them move with such grace and ease, it's impossible not to be mesmerized by either of them when they perform separately, but when the perform _together _well, that's something else entirely. Their movements are always perfectly synchronized; it's like watching a major ballet in the air with two dancers playing all the characters perfectly. Watching them perform is awe-inspiring, but besides that watching them makes you feel happy because they radiate this wonderful feeling of joy when they perform and it's a feeling you just can't help being affected by.

Then they both swing up to the platform and stand beside their son, they don't even sound out of breath. As Pop Haley begins announcing their final act his father pulls him in close for a one-armed hug and his mother joins the hug on the other side of him.

"You ready, son?" his father asks.

He grins at his father, "When am I never not ready, dad?" he asks, rolling his eyes dramatically.

His father chuckles and ruffles his hair, "That's my boy." He says as he lets go and prepares to step off the platform once again.

His mom squeezes him tight one more time as Pop Haley tells the crowd that this stunt requires a great deal of concentration and asks for them to keep silent. It's not true of course, they could do their entire routine with their eyes closed next to a busy highway and not be distracted, but telling the audience otherwise was good for dramatic effect. As a result of Pop Haley's warning the tent is almost completely silent as his father jumps of the platform and swings himself over to the opposite side of the trapeze. His mother follows soon after. She joins his father on the same trapeze, his father his hanging upside down from his knees and his mother stands on the bar between his knees.

Dick takes a deep breath before taking a running leap off the platform. His hands connect with the waiting bar and he once again uses his momentum to move the swing forward. He uses his body to swing the trapeze backwards and forwards a few times, he needs to get the swing up to its highest point for this trick. It takes a few swings but finally he reaches the right height. He lets the swing carry him downward and back one more time and takes another deep breath as it starts bringing him forward again, hurtling him upwards to that critical point. He closes his eyes as he nears it, letting instincts take over. His eyes stay closed as his hands leave the bar, as he sails upwards, as he reaches the highest point of his arc and curls up, as he executes all four rotations with flawless precision and only open again as his hands collide with his father's waiting hands and the crowd roars in appreciation. There's nothing better than the moment when he looks up into his father's eyes and sees undeniable love and pride gleaming in them.

After the show his mother goes to the trailer to prepare a late dinner and Dick and his father stay behind to help with the clean-up. When they finally get back to the trailer he notices that his mother has put on the dress she wears before and after the show on gala evenings and has set out an extra plate on their little dining table.

"Mom?" he asks, "Is someone joining us for dinner?"

It's a stupid question because obviously someone is joining them, and most probably someone important.

"Yes, dear," she says, "A very special person is joining us tonight, so please go get cleaned up and wear something nice, alright?"

"Okay mom," he says as he starts making his way to the back of the trailer, "Who's coming, though?" he asks, unable to contain his curiosity.

"You'll see soon enough." She answers, "Now don't take too long to get ready, your father also needs to get ready."

"Yes mom," he says.

He doesn't miss the sad glance that passes between his parents before he pulls the curtain closed and starts cleaning up.

When he comes out a few minutes later dressed in jeans and a light blue dress shirt – the outfit he wears before and after shows on gala evenings – he begins to help his mother with the finishing touches for the dinner. She's really gone all out tonight – pork chops with crab-stuffed mushrooms and sauerkraut with wine for the adults and some juice for Dick – and he wonders again who could possibly be joining them for dinner. He also notices that she seems sad about something, almost as if she's fighting back tears. That puts him on edge.

"Mom, what's wrong?" he asks.

She seems startled by the question, "Nothing, sweetheart, why would you think something's wrong?"

"You look like you're about to cry." He points out bluntly.

"Oh," she scoffs weakly, "I'm just tired, sweetie, don't you worry about me."

Dick can tell she's not telling him everything but he leaves it, if she doesn't want to tell him what's bothering her she probably has a good reason.

There's a knock on the door just as he's dad comes out, also dressed in his gala evening outfit. His dad moves to the door and invites the person who had knocked in. It's a tall man dressed in black, he has dark hair and blue eyes and Dick recognizes him immediately as Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy of Gotham city.

His mother smile's at Bruce and invites him to sit down. No introductions are made, it seems like everyone already knows one another. It's as they're eating dinner that things seem to fall in place for Dick and he suddenly understands why his mother had seemed so sad before Bruce had come, why she still seemed to be on the verge of tears even as she laughed at something funny that his father had said. It was time for Dick to leave.

He'd been expecting this of course, he'd known from the moment he'd woken up in this perfect world where his parents still lived and they performed together on the trapeze every night as a family as they would have done had Tony Zucko never come into their lives. He just hadn't caught on with what was happening earlier because he had been expecting to be jerked out of this world by having to witness their deaths again, he hadn't been expecting this gentle of a call back to reality.

It came all too soon, the moment when Bruce got up and said that they couldn't stay any longer, that it was time for them to leave. That was when his mother actually started crying. It was a sight that tore Dick's heart apart and suddenly he didn't want to leave. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with his parents, happy and safe. He didn't want to go back to the white hell he had left behind when he had come here.

His mother seemed to read his thoughts though and she smiled through the tears as she cupped his face.

"It's safe for you to go back now, sweetheart, Bruce wouldn't have come for you if it wasn't." she told him, her voice surprisingly strong and even.

"But… I want to stay here… with you." Dick's voice had broken on the last word and suddenly he was crying too, "I missed you s-so _much…_I don't want to lose you again."

His mother pulled him into a tight embrace and his father joined them as Dick cried into his mother's chest.

"It's alright, Dick," his father told him, cupping the back of his head with a strong hand, "You know we're never far away."

He could feel his mother nodding in agreement, "Your father's right, sweetheart, we'll always be with you, in your heart and in your memories."

She pulled away from him and pushed him away a little so she could look in his eyes, "And if ever you miss us, all you have to do is close your eyes and come for a visit."

His father smiled and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "We're only a dream, Dick, you know that, but the best thing about a dream is that once you figure out how you can always return to it."

Dick was still crying but he nodded and smiled at them. All he wanted to do was go back into their embrace but he knew that if he did he would never be able to leave.

He glanced back at Bruce and saw the silent tears streaming down the usually stoic face and suddenly knew that he couldn't stay with his parents. Bruce needed him more than they did.

He looked back at his parents to say goodbye to them. Tears still streamed down his mother's face but she was looking at him in exactly the same way that she did whenever he came off the trapeze, with that perfect mixture of pride and adoration. His father's face mirrored his mother's and Dick knew everything would be alright so long as he remembered those looks on their faces.

When he turned again he found Batman waiting for him in Bruce's place, he looked down and saw that he was now dressed as Robin and he grinned. He walked over to the Dark Knight and as one they pulled out their grappling guns, turned to face the outside world, shot out their lines and flew out into the dark. Dick didn't look back once.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Bruce had always had good timing; it was something he prided himself on. Some of the other Justice League members had described his timing as uncanny; Flash had described it as weird. Dick mostly used to say that his timing was awesome, unless of course he came in just in time to catch Dick in the middle of getting up to some sort of mischief; then suddenly his timing was _terrible. _Almost everyone couldn't figure out why he had such good timing (Alfred of course knew his secret because he had taught it to Bruce and Dick knew it to because Bruce had taught him) but it was actually a simple trick. '_All humans are creatures of habit, Master Bruce' _Alfred had explained to him, _'All one has to do is learn the habits of others and use that knowledge to one's advantage.'_ Bruce had taken that lesson to heart and utilized it as much as possible and it was that knowledge that lead to him cutting his patrol time short tonight so that he could check in on Dick, because even nightmares have habits, and Dick's had been making themselves known around the same time the past two nights. It was for this reason that Bruce wasn't all that surprised when Dick surged upright and into wakefulness in almost the same moment that Bruce had pushed his door open to check on him.

Dick was looking around wildly as Bruce moved to his side at a measured pace (he'd found out the previous night that rushing at Dick straight after a nightmare in his current state of mind only freaked him out more). He sat down on the bed next to Dick and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Dick's wide eyes landed on him and seemed to only notice then that Bruce had entered the room. He froze for a moment and Bruce's heart clenched as it did every time it seemed like Dick had to remind himself that he supposedly knew Bruce, but then Dick dove into Bruce's arms and started sobbing.

"Bruce…" Dick moaned.

"Shh, shh, shh, it's alright, I'm here, you're home, you're safe." Bruce told him soothingly while rubbing his heaving back in comforting circles.

"Bruce," Dick said again, "Am I – this is real, right? I'm not dreaming?"

Bruce frowned at the question but firmly answered, "You're not dreaming, kiddo, I promise."

Dick let out a shuddering breath, "I was so sure I would wake up back in the white room so when I woke up and I was _home _I thought I had to be dreaming, but mom was right; you wouldn't have come to get me if it wasn't safe."

_Huh? _Bruce's frown deepened because that made no sense. He reached over to put Dick's bedside lamp on before pushing him back so he could see his boy's face, "What are you talking about, Dick?" he asked, "You're not making any sense."

Dick shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts, "Sorry, I was having this… this dream? Or hallucination? I don't know, but I was with my parents and it was like Zucko never killed them, like I had been living with them my whole life but I also knew that I hadn't because I kept expecting them to die every time they went on to the trapeze for their duet before the finale, like they did the night they… you know… but they didn't and we just carried on and we just carried on like normal. Until tonight when you came to have dinner with us and said it was time to leave and then we turned into Batman and Robin grappled straight out of my parents' trailer and I knew I was going to wake up and I was sure that I would wake up back in that damned white room even though just before we left my mom told me that you wouldn't have come for me if it wasn't safe and I knew she was right but I still expected it so when I woke up here and saw you I thought I might still be dreaming and…" Dick's long ramble trailed off as he noticed the way Bruce was looking at him, "What?"

Bruce was trying to wrap his mind around everything that Dick had just said and then suddenly something important sunk in, "Dick," he whispered, "Do you… what do you remember? Do you know who you are? Who I am? Alfred? The Titans? Everything? Anything?"

This time it was Dick who frowned at him, "… Of course I do," he answered slowly, "Why wouldn't I? Did I hit my head or something? I mean I don't remember getting here, the last thing I remember is the white room and Slade and -" he was cut off as Bruce suddenly pulled him back into his arms.

"Oh Dickie," and now it's Bruce that's sobbing, "Thank you."

Dick pulled away and looked up at Bruce in total confusion, "For what? I'm confused Bruce."

Bruce chuckled and ruffled Dick's hair, "It's a long story, kiddo." He answered vaguely, "How are you feeling though?"

"Uhm," Dick seemed to think about it for a moment, "Actually I'm exhausted, now that I think about it, which is weird because I feel like I must have been sleeping for a long time, and my arm is kind of sore… and my thumbs too."

Bruce nodded, "Yeah they'll still be sore for a while, but you're only due for another round of pain meds in the morning."

"Huh? Why do I need pain meds? They're just a little sore."

"Dick, your left shoulder and both your thumbs were dislocated."

Dick stared at Bruce in shock, "What? When did that happen? Why don't I remember it?"

"I don't know, kiddo," Bruce answered his last question, "But we'll figure it out in the morning. For now though, I think we should get some sleep; I think we may have a long day ahead of us."

Dick nodded, "Okay… Uhm… you think I could, you know, crawl in with you tonight? I don't want to be alone…"

Bruce nodded, "Of course, Dick, you know you don't need to ask."

Dick smiled, "Yeah, I do."

* * *

**AN: Whoo hoo! Two chapters in two days! I love it when inspiration comes for a visit! I'll try to have the next chapter up by the end of the week guys! For those of you who were a little confused by the last chapter, I hope you're starting to understand it a little better now, it will be explained properly in the next chapter though.**

**Thank you again to all my followers and favouriters and reviewers! You all ROCK! Enjoy the rest of your week guys! I hope I'll be able to post on Sunday/Monday like usual but I'm going to watch Avengers 2 Sunday night (I can't wait!) so no promises. **

**Love you guys!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The next morning Bruce experienced a brief period of panic, starting from when he woke up to find he was alone in bed and lasting until he found Dick sitting on one of the bar stools by the breakfast bar in the kitchen; leveling the full force of his pout at Alfred.

"Oof," Bruce said, "Alfred, what did you say 'no' to to deserve the pout of mass destruction?"

"I can't say that I have the foggiest idea, sir." Alfred answered drily, though Bruce could hear the smirk in his voice and wisely kept his back turned to Dick as he continued preparing breakfast.

Dick turned the 'pout of mass destruction' on Bruce, "He won't tell me what's been going on." He complained, "I still don't remember how I ended up here."

Bruce studied Dick carefully, "What do you remember?" he asked.

"White." Dick answered with a slight wince, "Nothing after that except for that dream with my parents and waking up last night."

"Do you remember anything before the white? Or any specifics about the white?" Bruce asked as he claimed a seat next to Dick.

"Master Bruce," Alfred interrupted them, finally turning around, "Don't you suppose the two of you ought to have some breakfast first before getting into such weighty matters?"

Bruce nodded, "He's right, kiddo," Bruce told Dick, "I think we both have long stories so we should get some food in first."

Dick looked like he might argue but Bruce cut him off before he could, "Use the time to really think about what it is that you remember exactly, I want specifics."

Dick rolled his eyes at Bruce as Alfred placed a plate loaded with eggs, bacon and toast in font of each of them, "Alright." He agreed and then added with a grin, "I suppose I'll be too busy stuffing my face with Alfred's cooking to talk to you any way! This breakfast looks and smells delicious, Alfred."

Alfred smiled at Dick, "Why thank you, Master Dick, but will you please refrain from 'stuffing your face' as you put it. I would hate for you to choke on your bacon."

Dick chuckled and the sound made Bruce's heart do a little happy dance; it was the first time he had heard Dick laugh in a long time.

Half an hour later they had relocated to Bruce's study.

"Okay," Bruce said as they both settled into the couch opposite the fireplace, "Tell me everything. What do you remember from before the white room?"

Dick shook his head as if clearing it, "The last clear memory I have is breakfast with the Titans," he started, "Then an alert that that Doctor Light had been spotted in the lower part of town, the co-ordinates lead us to a warehouse. There wasn't any sign of Doctor Light but I wanted to check the warehouse out for any clues…we went inside… and then it gets really hazy." Dick's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember, "I think… there was an," he gasped and shot to his feet, "An explosion!" he exclaimed, with an urgent look in his eyes, "Bruce, the Titans! We need to find out if they're okay!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Bruce stood up as well and placed his hands on Dick's shoulders, "The Titans are fine. I spoke to Starfire last night; they're all still alive and well."

Dick's shoulders slumped in relief, "Oh, thank goodness." He said as Bruce lead him back to the couch and they settled down again, "Uhm, so where was I? Oh right; explosion. Sorry." Dick took a deep breath before carrying on, "The explosion in the last thing I remember before waking up in the white room."

Bruce nodded, "Makes sense that it would be. What do you remember about the white room?"

Dick took another deep breath and Bruce knew this part would be difficult for Dick to recount but he also knew that Dick needed to talk about it as soon as possible because that was how Dick healed; he talked.

"I remember waking up to this bright white light, which hurt, but my eyes adjusted and then I saw that everything was white. The walls, the restraints and I was even dressed in white." Dick visibly shuddered.

Bruce felt his anger suddenly spiking as Dick's words sank in, "He didn't make you dress yourself?!"

Dick flinched and shook his head, "No… I woke up like that."

Bruce had to close his eyes and focus on not getting up to punch the nearest wall for a few seconds before telling Dick to carry on.

Dick took another breath, "I was tied down to a bed and I could barely move." he shuddered again, "It was completely quiet at first but then all of a sudden there was this static and it was so _loud _and I tried to keep my cool but it was just _too much_ and I couldn't take it…" he trailed off to take a deep, shuddering breath again and Bruce had to concentrate on controlling his anger once again, "The noise stopped after a while and I knew, right then and there, what was going on; that whoever had me was putting me through white torture. I remembered learning about it, how it's meant to strip a person of their identity… and then Slade came in and told me that was exactly what he was planning on doing: he was going to keep me in there for a few months until I was just a shell of myself and then he was going to build my mind back up the way he wanted it to be his…" Dick shuddered again and Bruce decided that the best way to control his anger and to help his son get through the rest of what he remembered would be to hold him so he threw an arm over Dick's shoulders and pulled him close to his side.

Dick seemed to relax a tiny bit at that and carried on, "Then he left and the sound came back and I swear it was louder than before and I wanted to cover my ears but I couldn't because I was tied down and I just wanted it to _stop _and to come _home._" Dick's voice broke at the last word and he stopped to take few deep breaths.

"It's okay," Bruce said as Dick breathed, "You're okay, you're home, you're safe."

Dick sniffled, "I know, it's just I could feel myself slipping the longer I was in there. At one point I tried to think of my parents and I could barely remember their faces and…" Dick trailed off, his brows furrowed in concentration again, "Actually that's the last thing I do remember of that white room from hell, the next thing after that is the dream with my parents."

Bruce frowned a little, "Nothing else?" he asked

Dick shook his head, "Nothing."

"So you don't remember how your shoulder and thumbs got dislocated?"

Dick shook his head again, "Not at all."

"Hm," Bruce hummed in contemplation, "Tell me about the dream."

Dick seemed to relax as he delved into the dream of living with his parents from waking up in his parents' trailer to performing every night, waiting for them to fall and then just carrying on when they didn't to the dinner with Bruce, "And then I woke up in my bed and you know the rest."

Bruce nodded, "Yeah… It's interesting, it's like the moment you realized that you really were losing yourself you barricaded yourself within your mind and created a place where you knew you would be safe until it was safe for you to come back out again." He mused.

"Why would I have known to do that? I wasn't exactly having clear thoughts." Dick said.

"I don't know," Bruce said, "Maybe it was just your subconscious' way of protecting your mind, like a knee-jerk reaction thing. If that is the case then you've definitely mastered all the methods I've taught you to protect your mind with. I think I'd like J'onn to come and have a look at your mind though, if you don't mind."

Dick shook his head, "That's fine; I want him to make sure that I didn't lose anything at all."

Bruce nodded in agreement.

"Okay, your turn," Dick said, "How'd you find me?"

"Starfire called me the second night after you had gone missing," Bruce started and continued to explain how he and the Titans had worked together to find him. Dick seemed amazed that Batman had actually agreed to work with the Titans and then laughed when Bruce told him that he hadn't been given much of a choice. He only cut in when Bruce got to when they found him.

"Wait, I didn't remember _any _of you?!" he asked in shock, "Not even you?"

"I'm not sure, you let me come close to you but you kind of freaked out when the others tried so I think you at least sort of remembered me, or at least that you could trust me. It upset you that I knew who you were but you couldn't remember who I was… or who you were…"

"I… I didn't know who I was?" Dick asked, "What do you mean."

This time it was Bruce that took a deep breath before continuing, "You didn't know your own name, where you came from or anything… You just seemed to know that you could trust me."

Dick looked shell-shocked, "So he really did it… he made me forget everyone… even myself…"

Tears started falling from Dick's eyes and Bruce immediately tightened his arm around Dick's shoulders, "No, no, no," he countered Dick, "He didn't make you forget. You barricaded yourself in your mind, remember?"

"He still-"

"No, Dick." Bruce cut Dick off so vehemently that Dick froze. Bruce pushed him back so he could look him in his eyes, "Slade did _not _succeed. If he had then we wouldn't be having this conversation. Do you understand?"

Dick remained frozen for a few moments more before finally nodding and then diving back into Bruce's arms, still crying.

Bruce held him until he finally calmed down again before carrying on, "We rescued you three days ago. I sent the Titans home while I brought you hear to recover. We've been working on trying to get your memories back. It didn't seem like anything was working but then you woke up last night and you know the rest. I suppose it just took a few days for your subconscious to realize that it was safe for you to come out again."

Dick nodded against Bruce's chest, "I guess." He mumbled.

They spent the next ten minutes sitting like that, Dick held tightly in Bruce's arms, before Bruce finally sighed and got up.

"Come on," he said, "Let's call J'onn."

The Martian Manhunter came not long after he was called and took a look at Dick's mind. He agreed with Bruce's theory that Dick had subconsciously barricaded his memories and personality, everything that made him Dick, deep within his mind and had created the world where he had lived with his parents for him to stay in until it was safe to come out again. He was impressed at how well Dick had reacted to the whole ordeal actually.

He also warned them that Dick might start remembering what had happened while he had shut down. He had still experienced it after all and there was a chance that those memories might resurface. They were going to have to watch out for post-traumatic stress for the next few weeks. Dick would have to stay home until at least his shoulder and thumbs had fully healed.

Neither Dick nor Bruce complained, both just happy that Dick was home and that they were together as a family again. Although Dick did complain about not being let out on patrol because of his injuries… he complained about that a lot.

**AN: Sorry about not updating last week but Age of Ultron, you know, it was AWESOME! Hehe… and then I climbed a mountain the next morning at 5 AM (I'm crazy, I know)… hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Just one more and an epilogue to go! **

**Enjoy your week guys and thanks again for reviewing, favouriting and following! You guys ROCK! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Starfire sighed and wiped a tear away as she sat on top of Titans' Tower and watched the sunset, as she had done every evening for the past month since they had rescued Robin and left him with Batman. She always ended up crying when she sat there because it was at this time that she missed Robin the most but she kept coming up there each morning to watch the sunrise and evening to watch the sunset because it was also the time that she felt closest to him. It was on that rooftop that Robin had finally told her his real name and removed his mask for her to see the real him as the sun had risen in front of them, painting everything around them in shades of soft pinks and oranges as a new day began and it was on that rooftop that Robin had told her that he loved her as the sun had set, this time painting their surroundings in deep shades of red and orange as they shared a passionate kiss. She sighed again and kept watching the sunrise, he fondest memories of Robin were on this rooftop. So she kept coming because even though it hurt it also numbed the pain, as conflicting as that may sound.

Of course it wasn't like she hadn't heard from Robin at all in the past month; he had called a few days after he'd been rescued and told her about the brief stint of memory loss he had suffered and he had explained why he needed to stay with Batman a while longer: he needed to heal, and not just physically but mentally and emotionally too. It also wasn't like that had been the last time she'd heard from him; he called her every few days to see how things were doing, how she was doing, to assure her that he was still okay and that he missed her too. It wasn't like she didn't appreciate the effort he made to keep in contact with her because she really and truly did, but it just wasn't the same as actually having him here. She hadn't seen him since the night they rescued him, hadn't felt his warm embrace since before that and only hearing his voice and seeing him on a screen only made her miss him more, only hurt more because it just wasn't the _same _as when he was there for her to actually touch him and feel that he really was there. A sob escaped from behind her lips and she swiped at the tears running down her face again.

She just wanted Robin to come back and not just for her but for her team too. They just weren't the same without him. Although it wasn't like they hadn't gone without him for this amount of time before; he'd been gone even longer when he had gone on that training mission in the mountain a few years ago but that had been different because back then they hadn't had to live with the fact that their leader was going through a difficult time and there was nothing they could do about it. Cyborg was doing his best to keep them going but it was difficult when none of them were acting themselves: Raven was even darker and moodier than usual and hardly ever came out of her room, Starfire knew she definitely wasn't her cheery self and she'd been cooking florpah, the food for sad times, to no end (it was supposed to make a person feel better but no matter how much of it she cooked it didn't seem to help her, maybe she was cooking it wrong) even Beast Boy did not make as many jokes or pull any kinds of pranks anymore. Cyborg also spent most of his time in his lab. It just wasn't home without Robin. He was the glue that kept them together and they were falling apart without him. They _needed _him to come back.

Then, as if by some miracle answer to her silent pleadings, she heard an all too familiar voice behind her call her name softly.

She spun around and was up on her feet so quickly that she didn't even register the movement and then she saw him. Standing on the rooftop, the colours on his uniform standing out in the colours cast by the setting sun, looking at her with that soft smile on his face that she loved because he only ever gave it to _her _and in the next instant she was diving into his arms, nearly knocking him off balance, and sobbing into his chest. His arms immediately closed around her shaking shoulders and he held her tight against his chest as she kept crying.

"Shh, shh," he said as he lifted a hand to stroke her hair and rub her back soothingly, "Everything's okay, Star. Please don't cry; you know I can't take it when you do."

His voice was low with emotion and she knew that if she didn't stop crying soon he would most likely start crying too. She didn't want him to be sad because of her so she focused on her breathing and forced herself to stop crying. It took a great deal of effort but finally she managed to stop sobbing and start hiccupping instead and her tears went from streaming down her face and making his shirt wet to trickling slowly out one or two drops at a time. All the while Robin kept trying to soothe her by whispering comforting words into her ear, planting soft kisses on her head and continuing to rub her back in soothing circles. When she finally looked up at his face she could see that he was struggling to keep his emotions in control.

"I am sorry," she got out between hiccups, "I just missed you so much."

His arms around her tightened for a moment before he pushed her back a little and cupped her face in his hands and wiped her remaining tears away with his thumbs, "I missed you too, Star," he said, his voice still low with emotion and she watched as a tear slipped down his face from under his mask, "I missed you _so _much." Then he leaned forward and kissed her and at that moment the world could have ended and she wouldn't have cared a bit.

When they finally came up for air he pressed a soft kiss onto her forehead before pulling her into his chest again and holding her tightly while resting his head on top of hers. They stayed like that for a while before he let out a soft sigh.

"We should probably go find the others before they come find us. Batman is downstairs." He said and for the first time she noticed that he sounded tired.

She pulled back so that she could look at him properly and for the first time noticed the slight slump in his posture and she could see that he was a little pale still.

"Robin, you do not look well yet." She said as she reached up to cup a hand over his cheek, "Are you sure you shouldn't stay home a while longer"

Robin smiled her smile, "I'm alright, Star. The nightmares haven't gone away yet;" he shuddered as he admitted to that and the smile slipped away, "But I can handle them." He cupped his hand over one of her cheeks, mirroring her, "And even if I can't, you're here to help me, right."

She nodded, "Always."

He smiled her smile once again before leaning in for one last kiss before going in to greet the others because, as it turned out, she had been the first person he had come to find upon his return to the tower.

His reunion with the rest of the Titans had been a happy one and Starfire could almost feel it as almost immediately things seemed to snap back into place. Raven seemed happier, Beast Boy told so many jokes that she lost count, Cyborg seemed happier too and she knew for a fact that she was feeling much happier than she had half an hour ago.

Batman was there too although he didn't stay for too long, he merely made sure that Robin was settled in again. Before he left he pulled Starfire aside and once again asked her to keep an eye out for Robin and his nightmares and she couldn't help but smile at how history was repeating itself. Everyone seemed to believe that the Dark Knight was uncaring and distant but she knew better.

Robin didn't have any nightmares that night and she was grateful, she knew he needed the sleep, but she also knew that they wouldn't leave him alone for long. That was okay though, because she would be there for him when he needed her to tell him that everything was okay.

She wouldn't even be lying because now that he was back everything really would be okay again, as okay as only his presence could make it.

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**AN: stay tuned for the epilogue next week!**


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Masked blue eyes fall upon the figure huddled on a threadbare bed in one of Arkham Asylum's iconic dark, cold and damp cells. The man looks skinnier than the last time Robin saw him and the pallor of his skin is much paler too. Robin frowns; this is the man that has been the source of some of his worst nightmares for going on two months now? He looks so weak and pathetic. Robin isn't fooled though, he knows the man well, he may have lost some weight and he may look a little sickly but that did not mean that he could be underestimated.

As he stares at the apparently sleeping form of Slade Wilson, Robin once again wonders why he is here. He hadn't planned it. He wasn't even supposed to be in Gotham. He had just needed to get away from the Tower a bit- all his friends had been walking on eggshells around him for the past three weeks and he hadn't been able to take it anymore. So he left a note, climbed on his bike and went on a drive. He definitely hadn't been planning on going on a cross-country trip to Arkham Asylum and he definitely hadn't planned on coming to see Slade and now that he's here he's not sure what exactly he's doing here.

A chilling cackle sounds from a cell a few doors down from Slade's, "Ooooh Bird Boy's come for a visit! Did you miss your dear old Mista J?"

Robin ignores him, he hadn't come for the Joker; he had apparently come for Slade.

The Joker's statement is apparently loud enough to wake Slade up as his eyes snap open and immediately come to rest on Robin.

"Robin." He drawls in that soft voice that threatens to send chills up Robin's spine but he supresses it and he continues to stare at Slade impassively.

Slade pushes himself up and eyes Robin critically, "I see all my improvements have been undone by the Bat. No matter, as soon as I get out of here we'll start the process again and this time he won't find us until I'm finished making you mine."

Robin doesn't react at first. He doesn't know how he should react. Slade had said that very thing in his dreams so many times that he had lost count and every single time he heard those words in his dreams he would be frozen in fear, unable to help himself as Slade stepped out of the prison cell and threw him back into the white room and Robin would scream and scream until his own screams woke him up and he would break down crying from relief because it really was just a dream. Now though he wasn't frozen in fear, it was more like the sheer disbelief that Slade actually believed that he would be able to get away with the same plan again because in the real world trying the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result literally was the definition of insanity.

Slade smirked, mistaking Robin's silence for a sign of fear, "Don't you worry; I'll make you perfect."

Robin blinks one, twice, a third time and then throws his head back and laughs.

Slade frowns darkly because obviously this isn't the reaction he was expecting which only causes Robin to laugh more because he has suddenly had a very important epiphany.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that, Slade?" Robin says when he finally gets his laughter under control, "You think you're so wonderful and in control and that nothing you can do will ever fail. Well you're dead wrong. Do you want to know how long it took me to remember who I was after Batman and my Team rescued me? You probably think that it must have been within the past few days. Three days, Slade, that's all it took for your brilliant plan to wear off."

"You're lying!" Slade growls, "Even now you should not have all your memories back. You should be nothing bit a shell!"

"Dude, do I look like a shell to you?" Robin asks with a snort and a shake of his head, "Your plan didn't work, Slade, and it never will so you can just give up on that silly notion now."

Slade snarls and charges at the bars, obviously trying to scare Robin. Robin doesn't even blink.

"Face it Slade," and suddenly his voice drops into a growl not too different from his mentor's, "You did your worst and it didn't work and now nothing that you do can scare me. So by all means come after me, keep coming after me until your final breath. I might not always be ready for you but I will always defeat you because no matter what you do you can never take who I am away from me and I am not afraid of you." He practically snarls the last bit before turning around and walking away.

Slade immediately starts shouting threats of vengeance and pain and as a hysterical laugh joins the shouts, mixing to form a cacophonous noise echoing off the walls of Arkham Asylum, Robin walks out with his head held high. He has a feeling that he's had his last nightmare involving Slade Wilson.

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**AN: Sorry this is a few days late, was having technical difficulties with my laptop.**

**Thank you so much to those of you that have patiently come along on this little journey with me! Thank you also to all those of you who have favourited to followed and thanks especially to those of you who have reviewed. A special thanks must go to ForestGuardian311 who has left a review for every single chapter and has been my unofficial beta reader! You rock! **

**I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I did and if you so happen to be a Percy Jackson fan, keep an eye out for my next fic which will be in that fandom :)**

**Love you all!**


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